New Balance has supplied us with some new details about their exciting NB Minimus Zero line that will be released in early 2012. I read through the information that they supplied and picked out the especially interesting parts as quoted below (There are actually 9 points of interest but I focused on the ones that intrigued me most):

In March 2012, at running stores across the country, we will extend the much talked-about NB Minimus line with the arrival of NB Minimus Zero - new road, trail and wellness shoes that continue to deliver that minimal, light and right experience, but with a 0mm heel-to-midfoot drop.

We asked New Balance SBU Manager for Performance Running and Outdoor, Katherine Petrecca, who introduced us to NB Minimus the first time around, to help us get up to speed on what we can expect.

1. Minimal means many things.

 “From the start, we envisioned creating a range of "minimal" within the collection in order to satisfy the interests and needs of a broad spectrum of runners. The response to our original 10 series product (4mm drop) has been terrific, but we know that there are many runners who are intensely interested in zero drop products. There are good reasons why a runner might prefer one style over the other – and we ultimately want to support them both and more.”

2. 'Zero' refers to more than just the size of the drop.

 “We define our NB Minimus collection by 3 measures: weight, stack height and the heel-to-toe drop. Those are the levers that we can pull to create different levels of minimal product. In addition to the reduced drop, NB Minimus Zero products also feature lower stack heights and weights than the 10 series - 6.4 oz for NB Minimus Zero Road and 4.4 oz for NB Minimus Zero Trail.”

4. We've had too many ideas to fit into just one model.

 “We had some ideas for the 10 series that we weren't able to execute at the time. You'll begin to see those on the NB Minimus Zero product. One example is the coring of the midsole on the Zero that greatly reduces weight and provides amazing flexibility. In fact, we had an idea for the original product that we are still working on for the third evolution of NB Minimus in 2013.”

5. These shoes are going to make you work for it.

 “The NB Minimus Zero series product is for runners who are looking to go even more minimal - more ground feel, more independent foot movement, less weight. The Trail Zero is particularly minimal. It will really force the runner to pay attention to how they are running because the shoe won't be doing any of the work for them.”

I am overwhelmingly excited to see that New Balance has really listed to us minimal/barefoot runners and revised the NB Minimus line to be zero drop and to have more ground feel. I tried on the original NB Minimus Trail (MT10) and decided to leave it in the store due to the 4mm drop and the metatarsal toe band. If these two issues have been taken care of, which it seems that they have, I can't wait to get my hands on any of the 3 shoes in the NB Minimus Zero line. Hopefully New Balance will keep the teaser information coming, you know how we runners love to torture ourselves by drooling over shoe we can't have yet!